The Hindu : Front Page : Newly built medians spell trouble during rain?

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Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009
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Newly built medians spell trouble during rain?

M.T. Shiva Kumar

Some are too high to allow natural flow of water

— Photo: G. P. Sampath Kumar

Tough ride: A stretch of Old Madras Road in Bangalore which was flooded after a spell of rain.

Bangalore: Motorists on Old Madras Road are facing problems during rain when they pass by the Indiranagar RTO.

Since there is no proper drainage system in front of the RTO, the rainwater floods the road. The recently laid road median on this stretch adds to their woes with their engines often sputtering to a halt due to flooding.

According to the Bangalore City Traffic Police, at least three lakh vehicles pass by this stretch every day.

At least 15 small cars, auto rickshaws and 35 two-wheelers got stuck on this stretch during one memorable night, said an officer of Indiranagar traffic police station. The high median has blocked the natural flow of water, and as a result the water clogged on the road, he said.

Unscientific

Motorists in other parts of the city too face similar problems due to the medians.

“The newly laid road medians across the city are unscientific. At least four deaths have been reported in the last four months when different vehicles hit the medians,” a police officer, who did not want to be named, told The Hindu.

Earlier the city had smaller medians. Most of these were removed recently and were replaced by bigger medians, he said.

School teacher Sumangala Ramakrishna, a frequent traveller on Old Madras Road, said: “The new median is unscientific causing nuisance to motorists during rain. Due to the imperfect positioning of the median, we are experiencing difficulties. With monsoon on the way, the trouble may worsen if action is not taken immediately.”

Opposing view

A senior police official, however, maintained that new medians are scientific. The pre-cast median (PCM) is designed by expert engineers of the Indian Road Congress (IRC). All medians have lights, reflectors and caution boards, said Panduranga H. Rane, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West-Traffic).

The IRC is the premier technical body of highway engineers in the country. Based on its recommendations, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is constructing medians. After careful studies, the IRC designed the medians conforming to international standards, Mr. Rane said.

Earlier the BBMP used to construct medians with concrete blocks. But at several places, these blocks were dislodged and scattered either due to heavy traffic or due to activities of miscreants. In the dark this led to accidents, many of them fatal, the officer said. A large number of motorists on Old Madras Road near Domlur had also experienced similar kind of problems around a month ago.

The BBMP had taken up some development works at Domlur and stored a truckload of mud on a side of the road. Hence, the water flow was blocked and as a result the clogged water entered the vehicles, said a motorist.

The engines of several vehicles sputtered to a halt due to flooding on middle of the road, he said.

However, the HAL Airport traffic police said that they had requested the BBMP to clear the mud from the road and later it was cleared.

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